


Will you still call me Superman?

by SteelBlaidd



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Gen, Major Illness, characters as children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteelBlaidd/pseuds/SteelBlaidd
Summary: In a child's eyes, the whole world is Miraculous!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 14
Kudos: 21
Collections: Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020





	Will you still call me Superman?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cyberchaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyberchaos/gifts).



> Written in celebration of the First Anniversary of the [Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/XR6UHT) without which I would not be the author I am today, nor the one I hope to be tomorrow.

“Weird. So again girl, why are we here? This exhibit's got something to do with Ladybug? For reals?” Alya’s tone was finely balanced between bored and incredulous.

“Well, uh... “ Marinette looked down then up at the papyrus mounted on the wall. “Yeah, it's over there.” The Two girls hustled over to examine the ancient record. 

They stared at it for a few moments, Alya growing more and more impatient. “Come on, tell me what it is already!”

“No, no, “Marinette protested. ”Because... it wouldn't be a surprise then…” She trailed off then muttered under her breath, “for you or me.” The girls looked back up at the ancient Egyptian papyrus in silence broken suddenly by an excited voice, “I'm telling you, Father, it's right there in the hieroglyphics.“ They were suddenly pushed aside by a young boy. “Excuse me. There, as you know, the one with the scepter is Tutankhamun, the first. And there, opposite, is Nefertiti, his princess. There are exactly one hundred mummies beside them. She died several years before him, and the sun god Ra took her as his goddess.” A deeper voice answered him. “ Yes, I know all that. I'm the director of this exhibition, remember?”

The boy continued enthusiastically “Then you also know that Tutankhamun wanted to bring his princess back to life, by offering the sun god a new wife. This seemed to illustrate the ritual he devised. Nobody has ever fully deciphered the hieroglyphics, but I have! It's a magic chant that needs to be recited in order to complete the ritual! I'm sure of it!” The boy was almost vibrating with excitement.

As they watched the argument escalate Marinette whispered to her best friend “He kinda reminds me of someone else with crazy ideas... you!“ Alya whispered back. “You might think my theories about Ladybug are crazy, but you watch, girl, I'll prove you wrong.”

“... these types of frescoes are almost always the illustration for a legend. They called it a legend for a reason…” The voice matched the words, both pompous and dismissive. 

“That's what everyone thinks. But I know it's real. I can prove it!” the Boy shook his fist and stalked off.

Nino turned around to face the girls as he pulled his red cap from his back pocket and said, “Ok so this akuma is called "T _he Pharaoh_ ” and he is going to have powers based on the Egyptian gods.

“Ohh this sounds like fun “ Marinette squealed, clapping her hands.

“Who’s gonna be the akuma?” Alya asked as they huddled at one corner of the _école_ playground, Adrien running up to them from where he had turned around after finishing his role as the dismissive father. 

“Ahh it's going to be me, this time,” Nino said with an attempt at a grin. “Everybody else is too busy watching Alix and Kim have a climbing contest on the monkey bars.” 

“Again?” Alya asked, rolling her eyes. “I thought they settled that one yesterday.” 

“Only for the top side,” Adrien said. “They’re racing on the underside this time.”

“Anyway,” Nino interjected. “I'm going to come in and take this scepter,” he placed a ruler, liberated from the teacher's can of them in the math corner of the classroom, upright in a large plastic cup. “And then I'm going to take it and Alya off to the sandbox so I can sacrifice her to resurrect my beloved dead queen.“ 

Alya snorted and gave Nino a skeptical look. “Well there's no accounting for taste,” she huffed as he looked at her with peaked eyebrows. “Why go trying to call back some girl from the dead when you already have all this?“ she proclaimed as she cocked her head to the side with her nose in the air. Her arms spread, palms up at shoulder height, chest thrust forward so they could bask in her gloriousness.

“Dude, gimme a break. I just came up with this based on Alix complaining about some old movie her brother likes. Anyway, isn't Lois Lane always getting kidnaped? It’s practically required for journalists on the Superhero beat.”

“That may be, but it doesn't mean I have to stand around and wait to be rescued!” Alya insisted.

“So, um, what are we going to do after you take her off to be sacrificed?” Marinette asked tentatively as she twiddled her fingers, chin tucked to her chest as she occasionally cast a quick glance from under the floppy beret that covered the wispy down of her newly grown hair at the exuberant blond. 

Adrien had always been overwhelming in his enthusiasm. Especially when she had first joined the class after coming home from her most recent stint in the hospital. Still exhausted from weeks of harsh drugs and radiation treatments, Marinette could only take his intense cheerfulness for a short period before Nino would drag him away so she could recover. It had taken a good month for her to stop startling at the antics of her terminally goofy classmate. 

Finding out a week ago he was the son of her inspiration, internationally known designer Gabriel Agreste, seemed to have reset all of her progress in learning to relax around him back to zero.

At least when she wasn't wearing a mask.

“Don't worry princess,” Adrien said and winked at her. “You always come up with the best ideas.” 

Marinette tried to disappear into her jacket collar as her cheeks darkened from cherry blossom pink to candy apple red. 

“You’re a big part of it too,” she mumbled, the words almost unintelligible through her flaming embarrassment. 

Adrien smiled and held up a fist. “Don't worry partner. You and me together we can take on the whole world.“

In one jerky motion Marinette touched her fist to Adrien’s then snatched it back as if his fist were a hot stove.

Nino interrupted them to holler from the sandbox, “We're ready! Come and get us!”

The two kids looked at each other then waved their arms around as they slid on the masks Marinette had made to help let their playmates know when they had become Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marinette’s heartbeat steadied, and she smirked at her now even more silly partner.

They ran towards their friends and began to jump around play-fighting Nino while Alya pretended to be the intrepid journalist while recording the visual stream of their game and offering commentary. 

They Ladybug and only just summoned her Lucky Charm as the bell called them back in from the after lunch recess to the rest of their day in _Cours Préparatoire_.

They kept up an intermittent whisper about their game as the rest of the day wore on. Alya in particular could never wait until the next day, and it had been so _close_. She had to know how Ladybug and Chat Noir would defeat the akuma and foil Hawk Moth’s dastardly plan to steal their miraculous, so they worked through the particulars of the Pharaoh's defeat around the rest of their lessons.

In the beginning it was all for Marinette.

The first day she had joined the class it seemed that she was incapable of looking anywhere but her shoes or speaking louder than a soft mumble. She tired so easily those first couple of weeks that she had spent most free periods just sitting by herself and sketching. 

One day Alya brought her Majestia and KnightOwl action figures to class for show and tell and Marinette lit up like the Eiffel Tower. Then after lunch, when Marinette asked if they could play together, in a voice you could actually hear, Alya had dragged her over to where Nino and Adrien were rocking out on air guitars to what sounded like a bunch of mice covering _Life in the Fast Lane_ on Nino's headphones. 

While Alya explained her idea to play Superheroes Marinette stayed plastered to her back, face buried in her new friend's shoulder. Adrien kept moving his head into the weirdest positions trying to get a glance at Marinette's expression. 

“I bet you would make a great superhero,'' he said when she finally peaked out from behind her flannel covered shield. She ducked back down again then slowly eased back into view giggling softly at the boy’s silly smile and corny jokes . 

From such a small beginning their play time grew to include most of the class. 

Even if they had been off playing other things other kids would ask about their game and sit spell bound as Alya would regale them with their adventures. After a few weeks everyone had joined in at least once. Either pretending to be the villainous akuma or sometimes the akuma’s target. Most of the time Marinette was so painfully shy that she made even Juleka seem outspoken, but when she was Ladybug, Marinette was much bolder and self assured. 

Adrien loved watching her blossom.

As the day came to a close, the children gathered to meet their parents at the school gate. 

Adrien looked around anxiously, then ran to wait with Marinette. They stood together silently for a few moments until Marinette's grandmother peddled up on her bicycle. 

After complimenting Adrien on being such a gentleman, she tousled his hair then picked up Marinette to buckle her into the bike's child seat and strap on their helmets.

Marinette nervously wiggled her fingers in response to Adrien’s wildly waving hands as they rode off. Which he did until Nathalie collected him, long past the time his friend had ridden out of sight.

After a couple blocks Marinette asked, “Is it ok if we go to the hospital today?”

“Of course my little fairy,” her grandmother said then turned left at the next intersection. After ten minutes of good pedaling they arrived at the local hospital. 

Marinette's grandmother parked and locked the bike, took off their helmets and the two of them walked hand in hand into the building. 

They checked in with the front desk and took a silent ride up to the tenth floor where Marinette finally let go of her grandma’s hand and raced down the corridor to knock on a door halfway to the end.

“It's not like it’s locked you might as well come in,” came the prickly, if quiet, response.

Marinette opened the door carefully to see another girl just her age looking fixedly out the window from the bed which was raised into a sitting position. She was wearing a crocheted yellow cap made to look like Rapunzel's exuberant locks and a grumpy expression. 

“Was it a chemo day?” Marinette asked tentatively.

At the other girl’s jerky nod Marinette took a deep breath. 

“Do you still want to hear about what Ladybug did today, Chloe?” 

A gentle nod and glowing smile was all the answer she received.

**Author's Note:**

> My great gratitude to my beta the delightful [MalcolmReynolds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalcolmReynolds/pseuds/MalcolmReynolds%E2%80%9D%20rel=)  
> and all the rest of the _Fabulous_ people at the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks), who have encouraged me and kept me going. If you write or draw for this fandom, or just want to, come play with us.
> 
> For an example of Chloe's "wig" visit [The Magic Yarn Project](https://themagicyarnproject.com/princessandpals/).


End file.
